Title

Resources for a Christian worldview

Fourie

Frederick Fourie pages

Frederick Fourie obtained a PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1981, with a dissertation on A Structural Theory of the Firm. In this he applied the idea of individuality structures to the firm (business enterprise), seeking to identify the typical nature of the firm on the basis of a structural analysis of the historical evolution and emancipation of the firm. Complementary work focused on deriving the intrinsic nature of the market as well as principles for the role of government in the economy.

His earlier degrees were a BA (majoring in Economics, Mathematics and Philosophy) and MA in Economics at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He was appointed professor of Economics at the UFS in 1982 and distinguished professor in 1998. From 1992-95 he was the founding head (part-time) of the Unit for Fiscal Analysis in the Department of Finance in Pretoria. He co-authored the founding document of the South African Competition Act 1999 and was a member of the first Competition Tribunal.

After terms as Dean and Vice-Rector: Academic, he was appointed Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS in August 2002. He returned to academic life in 2009 as a research fellow in the UFS Department of Economics, focusing on unemployment. In 2012 he was appointed Research Coordinator of the Research Project on Employment, Income Distribution and Inclusive Growth, based at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This followed his publication of a monograph on the fragmented nature of the unemployment discourse in South Africa.

Currently his own research focuses on the informal (i.e. unregistered) sector in South Africa – where millions of marginalised and poor people try to make a living in one-person and micro-enterprises – arguing for policies to enable and support (rather than harass) these enterprises. The structural theory of the firm, as developed in his PhD dissertation, again features as a conceptual tool in this research.

Fourie F.C.v.N. (2015): The National Development Plan on unemployment: on consistency, coherence and comprehensiveness. REDI3x3 Working Paper 7.

Fourie F.C.v.N. & Kerr, A. (forthcoming 2016): What can the Survey of Employers and the Self-employed (SESE) tell us about employment by informal firms in South Africa?REDI3x3 Working Paper.

Articles, chapters and papers

1. Fourie, F.C.v.N. (1978): Milton Friedman's monetary rule - a critique of its principles and consequences, South African Journal of Economics. Included in 1990 in Milton Friedman: Critical Assess­ments, Routledge, London. This is an international selection of what is considered the major critical contributions with regard to the work of Friedman (Nobel prize winner in Economics).

2. Fourie, F.C.v.N. (1980a): Serial correlation, lagged variables and the choice between different consumption function specifications, Journal for Studies in Economics and Econometrics.

51. Booysen-Wolthers A., Fourie, F.C.v.N. & Botes, L. (2006): Changes in the development status of women in South Africa from 1996 to 2001: for the better or for the worse? Development Southern Africa, December.

52. Booysen-Wolthers A., Fourie, F.C.v.N. & Botes, L. (2011): The development status of women in South Africa: patterns and progress in the provinces. Development Southern Africa, March.